Lambent
The Lambent, or Lambency, references to a mutated variant of the Locust, created from prolonged exposure to Imulsion. There have only been three breeds of Lambent shown so far. The Lambent share the same technology, armor, weapons, and Drones share the same appearance. Most Lambent differ in behavior, appearance, and death from Locust. The Lambent are first introduced in the first Gears of War, and are further shown in Gears of War 2 where they are fighting the Locust in what seems to be some sort of civil war between the original Locust Horde and the Lambent Horde for control of the Hollow. Lambent Wretches Health: Casual= 75HP, Hardcore= 200HP, Insane= 200HP A new kind of Wretch that has become lambent after direct exposure to Imulsion. Due to the volatility of Imulsion, this kind of Wretch is called a "Dark" or "Lambent Wretch" and explodes when killed, injuring if not killing players who are too close, making them extremely dangerous, and to what most believe exremley annoying. They also have more health than the common Wretch on Insane and Hardcore difficulties. These Wretches, because of their greater health, should not be beaten down using melee attacks. It is possible, but if attempts are made, the player is recommended to constantly roll and evade both the Wretch's own melee attack or the explosion. Lambent Wretches also kill one another when they explode too close to each other, causing chain reactions, sometimes clearing entire rooms. Players, if too close, should melee, then immediately dive away, though a good weapon to come prepared with in places with lambent wretchs are; shotguns, or long-range sniper rifles, if your willing to waste the good ammo. Whatever you do, however, do not Chainsaw a Lambent Wretch. It will blow up in your face, sometimes causing severe damage, or even death depending on the difficulty. During storms, these Wretches have the unnerving tendency to seemingly appear out of thin air during flashes of lightning, easier to see than most wretches in the dark, cause be, they glow. A Dark Wretch's sudden appearance is often accompanied by its bloodcurdling scream thought to drive those to near, temperarily deaf. Appearances Lambent Wretches first appear in the Act 3 chapter, Downpour. They are seen in the rest of Act 3 (except for Tip of the Iceberg, making way for Therons) as well as in the later parts of the Train Wreck chapter onboard the Tyro Pillar. They do not appear in Gears of War 2 as they are replaced by Tickers. Lambent Drone A variant of the Locust Drone, Lambent Drones are the most used force of the Lambent. Lambent Drones appear slightly different from a regular drone. They do not explode when killed; instead, when one is killed it seems as if some kind of lambent energy leaves the corpse and moves across the floor into another lambent drone. The causes and the reasons behind this are completely theoretical as it has only been seen to happen once near the end of Gears of War 2 and has not been explained. The Lambent can be seen multiple times during No turning back when normal locust are seen both fighting and retreating from them. During which if the player has a Longshot they can snipe a Lambent. Lambent Brumak Created when a Brumak is exposed to Imulsion for a short time. When turning Lambent, it undergoes aggressive, mutating growth. It bursts out of its armour, tentacles with snapping jaws burst from its back, its head fuses with its shoulders as a second head bursts forth from its mouth. It becomes more aggressive, more muscular, more deadly, and explodes when destroyed, apparently with the same force as a Lightmass Bomb. Only one Lambent Brumak has been shown and it can only be killed with the Hammer of Dawn. It takes all of Delta Squad firing at it with the Hammer of Dawn to take it down. Relations with the Locust Horde It seems that the Locust Horde and the Lambent are in a state of civil war and fighting for control of The Hollow. The Locust Queen herself considers the Lambent as an infection to the Locust Horde and lower life forms, she explains on a transmission (heard by Delta Team before planning the flooding of Jacinto). So it would seem the Lambent are enemies for the Locust as are the Seran People. It's likely that the Lambent allowed Delta Squad to descend down the elevator to the Locust Queen's lair. The lambent drones watched them descend, and easily could have killed them. Delta Squad had no cover and were outnumbered. But the drones just watched the squad descend, even after Cole killed one of their comrades. It is possible that the Locust Defense Plans collectible refers to the Lambent, and if this is true, then the infected may be workers who worked deeper in the Hollow, closer to the Imulsion. It is also possible, judging from the Locust Queen's speech in the opening scenes, that the Locust are being overwhelmed, and have been for a while, and are trying to breach the surface in order to combat them more effectively, or as a form of retreat. =References= Category:Locust Horde Category:Groups